If doing 7 things sounds like a lot to do every day, it really isn’t. We probably do hundreds, maybe even thousands of things every single day. Humans have over 6000 thoughts per day, so doing 10 things is not that much.
I made this list of 8 things you should do every day mainly for myself, it was useful especially while trying to navigate life with three kids and a Bipolar I Diagnosis.
Also, there’s a very highly likely probability you already do these things, at least some of the time.
1. Get Dressed in The Morning
If you work at home, staying in your pajamas all day is very tempting. I always want to do that. The problem of course is your personal hygeine begins to suffer, and also your brain never goes into full “work mode” – you stay in “sleepy dreamy pajama mode”.
Then, when you go to fall asleep, you can’t – because your brain thinks you slept all day. It’s a vicious cycle and the biggest thing that has helped me is making a point to get dressed in the morning.
Most of my “work clothes” are comfortable enough to be pajamas, but for some people, it makes a difference if you put on real shoes and real pants. Never sleep in what you wear during the day and never stay in what you wear to bed past noon.
2. Take Notes
Notes are like little breadcrumb trails that will help you find your way back if you ever get lost.
I have hypergraphia, so the amount of notes I take is ridiculous, but you don’t need a lot of notes.
There’s a lot of ways you can take notes every day – and most of them you probably already are doing even if you’re not aware of it.
Don’t want to write a lot? That’s fine. Do a one-word-a-day journal.
3. Eat Something
If you’ve ever gotten caught up in doing something really fun, it can be easy to forget to eat. Make it a point to force yourself to eat something during the day.
If you regularly forget to eat like I do, at the very least try to make your beverages healthy and consider taking some multi-vitamins.
4. Housework
You should do some kind of housework every day. If you do little things every single day, the house will stay a lot cleaner.
My daily housework includes this:
- Dishes
- Laundry (even if it’s a micro load)
- Sweep
- Take out the trash
- Clear off the countertops/table surfaces
This stuff doesn’t take up much time and you also multitask during this by catching up on podcasts, recording yourself to transcribe later, or even just some quiet meditation time.
Prefer to watch TV + movies while you do these things? Why not? That’s totally okay too!
5. Go Outside
You don’t have to leave the house, but you should make it a point to go outside at least 3 times a day everyday. You don’t have to go outside for long – you can sit on your porch or deck, walk to the mailbox or walk down the street for a block or two.
If you force yourself to go outside, it will help you get some much needed structure.
6. Talk to Another Human Being in Person
I know, it’s a post-pandemic digital world. It’s hard to talk to another human being in real life every day, especially if you live alone and work from home.
I fortunately have 4 other people who live here, and honestly, that’s a big part of me staying sane + grounded in reality.
There are tons of ways to talk to a real, live human being every single day face to face in person, although some might require stepping out of your comfort zone, such as going to a meetup or local community event.
In fact, thinking about this – I think you should make an effort to also reach out to actual live humans outside of your own household as well.
Some people you can talk to:
- Store Cashier
- Hair Dresser
- Mail Delivery Driver
- UPS/Amazon/Fed Ex Driver
- Waitress or Waiter
- Neighbor
Just some ideas. If you can’t talk to someone in person, try reaching out to friends, family and members of your community to see who can help you do just that.
7. Pray
While I put prayer last on this list, it’s probably the most important one of them all, and I didn’t want to turn you off from it or the other ideas in this post in case you aren’t a spiritual person.
Honestly though, prayer takes many forms. It isn’t the same thing for every person.
It doesn’t really matter what religion you follow (or if you don’t follow any!) or what kind of prayers you are into, you really should pray.
Prayer comes in a lot of forms. As an eclectic Catholic, I do believe getting on your knees to pray has a real significance that you should make the effort to do, but if you pray by meditating or listening to relaxing music or by writing or making art, that’s okay too.
All that matters is at least once a day, you take consideration that there is a higher power in the world. Admitting a higher power has more control than you ever could is the reason why 12-step programs are successful. It will help you succeed, too.
Yup. 7 Simple Things. Do them everyday + repeat as necessary.